Chantal Coady's Top Tips for Autumn Winter 2011

The founder of Rococo Chocolates and fantastic designer tells us what food she's cooking this winter.

Chantal Coady founded Rococo Chocolates in 1983. Her passion for chocolate lured her away from a career in textile design, and armed with a little knowledge, a dangerous passion for chocolate and a strong belief that there was room for a radically different approach to chocolate, she opened her first shop on Londons King's Road.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Her flair for design was not lost and can be seen in the in the packaging, the shops designs and the chocolates themselves. Now more than 25 years later and the author of three books about chocolate, Coady still pushes forward the boundaries of chocolate retailing, with three shops in London - the flagship store being in Motcomb Street in the heart of Belgravia.

We do things as simply as possible in our house, so when Im entertaining I let the table speak for itself. I like to use beautiful china and glass, and adore the Reidel O glasses; they are fine crystal with no stems, so are easy to put in the dishwasher.

At the moment I am really into purple sprouting broccoli, endive and lemons, but maybe that's the season. We also always have sourdough bread, olives and Parma ham, for an instant picnic.

My best winter warmer is a big vegetable soup or stew, home made of course. Or a proper chicken soup with ravioli and parmesan...

I love to cook things in our slow oven like pork belly or shoulder of lamb, which can happily stay in the oven for a day and be ready when we get home. I usually use lots of spices or they can be a bit bland.

I had the best meal of my life in Florence next to the river. We had a carpaccio of octopus followed by homemade ravioli with fresh porcini. It was just divine, so simple and delicious, and with great wine and good friends to share with.

I adore the lemon and violet flavour combination which Laurent, our Prof du Choc came up with this spring. Its tangy and floral, and perfumed without being soapy. This is the challenge when working with chocolate...

I like to make bircher-style muesli, soaked overnight with water and then with yogurt and Dru Natural Foods green barley grass powder. Its a bit of an acquired taste, but I love it.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

My favourite no-brainer recipe for children is Weetabix chicken. Take a sliced chicken breast and coat in egg, crushed Weetabix, some herbs and salt and pepper, and hey presto! Serve with salad and a baked potato.

RED, PART OF THE HEARST UK FASHION & BEAUTY NETWORK
Red Online participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.